Dark Forest Capital Management LP Purchases New Position in TransUnion (NYSE:TRU)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,127 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of TRU. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of TransUnion by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 428 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in TransUnion during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in TransUnion by 58.7% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 454 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in TransUnion during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in TransUnion during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other TransUnion news, insider Steven M. Chaouki sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.95, for a total transaction of $95,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 58,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,611,923.60. The trade was a 1.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Venkat Achanta sold 1,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.74, for a total value of $174,342.54. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 105,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,095,112.82. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,021 shares of company stock valued at $372,751 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

TransUnion Stock Performance

Shares of TRU opened at $81.70 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.70. TransUnion has a one year low of $66.38 and a one year high of $113.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.96, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.67. The business has a fifty day moving average of $82.23 and a 200 day moving average of $92.72.

TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.07. TransUnion had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 6.80%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. TransUnion’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that TransUnion will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

TransUnion announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to buy up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

TransUnion Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. This is a positive change from TransUnion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. TransUnion’s payout ratio is presently 24.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on TRU shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of TransUnion from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of TransUnion in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of TransUnion from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.38.

TransUnion Profile

TransUnion operates as a global consumer credit reporting agency that provides risk and information solutions. The company operates through U.S. Markets, International, and Consumer Interactive segments. The U.S. Markets segment provides consumer reports, actionable insights, and analytic services to businesses, which uses its services to acquire new customers; assess consumer ability to pay for services; identify cross-selling opportunities; measure and manage debt portfolio risk; collect debt; verify consumer identities; and mitigate fraud risk.